The message appeared oblique, but the timing of an opinion piece in this newspaper by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca was very significant.

As the government reels in the aftermath of the Panama Papers, and as the Opposition takes full political advantage of the unfolding events, the President has come out calling for some sobriety, or national unity, as she prefers to call it: “Unity is not attained off-the-shelf but is a hard-won value that is achieved by everyone’s efforts, through respect, dignity and tolerance.”

The President draws on the country’s experiences during the politico-religious dispute of the 1960s and the confrontational politics and violence of the 1980s, to raise her alarm. There is truly little to see of that today, except for maybe a few tense moments outside the law courts when Nationalist MP Jason Azzopardi went to face defamation charges. Still, the President found it fit to sound the warning bells. She draws on personal experience, saying her generation lived through the 1960s and 1980s “with much trepidation”.

A second caution went to “political leaders”. The President warns against diluting democracy in Malta for short-term political gain that serves the few and not the nation. She also cautions against short-term gains achieved through escalating tempers. Her appeal is clear: avoid a repetition of recent political history, tone it down because it can hurt communities and families. Go easy with those messages on social media, avoid instilling hatred, and do not reopen old wounds that some still remember to this day.

The message was precautionary more than anything else, but it did not go unheeded. The Maltese bishops expressed their own concerns about the “situation in the country” the very next day, backing the President’s appeal.

Like the President, they made no specific references to any political controversy, but it is undeniable that the Panama scandal has raised the political tension in the country and the bishops’ message too needs to be seen in the current context. Archbishop Charles Scicluna and Gozo Bishop Mario Grech appealed to the faithful to pray for “unity, liberty, truth and justice” and to people of goodwill to weigh carefully the President’s words.

There were others who spoke up, including the Confederation of Malta Trade Unions who said they were concerned over the “gravity” of the situation in the country following the international publicity that followed the release of the Panama Papers. The Union Ħaddiema Magħqudin and the Malta Employers’ Association said the negative publicity could impact the country’s financial services industry.

The warnings are all there. The CMTU is urging the government to act swiftly and to take the necessary hard decisions to limit the damage to the country arising from the Panama scandal. Ignoring the elephant in the room would be naïve at this point. The hard decisions would have to include the removal of Health and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s chief of staff Keith Schembri. They are at the root of the crisis the government has found itself in.

This administration’s successes in the economic sector and in the tourism sector are undoubted. Measures such as the free childcare service have helped the economy to continue to steam ahead. But all this can easily be derailed if the political climate continues to turn sour, if the Prime Minister continues to postpone the obvious and if the government takes its eye off the ball to focus on defending the indefensible.

The choice is between short-term ‘political gain’ and the national interest. There is truly no choice.

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